As expected, Team USA took care of business in both November exhibition games, bettering the Tennessee Lady Vols 95-59 on Nov. 5 before defeating Duke 87-58 on Nov. 12.
Before the exhibition games, which sandwiched a training camp in Atlanta, we analyzed the impact players’ performances in the games and camp would—and would not—have on the 12-player roster selected to represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The absence of five of the best players in the national team pool—A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd—limits the value of the recent games and camp. Because those players likely will be central to Team USA’s Olympic approach, rounding out the roster with players that complement that quintet should be the top priority of head coach Cheryl Reeve and Women’s National Team Director Briana Weiss. It’s a bit hard to put all the pieces together without all parties present. As Reeve said after the game against Duke:
We rarely have maybe what will be the final 12 all together for a variety of reasons but each time that we’re together, it’s helpful to see different combinations of players, different skill sets of players. This is a difficult task for the selection committee because there’s a lot of…
